be26614ffbfca315943daa11dc0c4523d6ed6f58
1 git(7)
2 ======
3 v0.99.4, Aug 2005
5 NAME
6 ----
7 git - the stupid content tracker
10 SYNOPSIS
11 --------
12 'git-<command>' <args>
14 DESCRIPTION
15 -----------
17 This is reference information for the core git commands.
19 The Discussion section below contains much useful definition and
20 clarification info - read that first. And of the commands, I suggest
21 reading link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache] and
22 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree] first - I wish I had!
24 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
25 08/05/05
27 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
28 reflect recent changes.
30 Commands Overview
31 -----------------
32 The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
33 the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that
34 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
35 references between repositories.
37 In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
38 commands. They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
39 Porcelains.
41 There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
42 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
43 SCMs layered over git.
45 Manipulation commands
46 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
47 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
48 Copy files from the cache to the working directory
50 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
51 Creates a new commit object
53 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
54 Creates an empty git object database
56 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
57 Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
59 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
60 Creates a tag object
62 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
63 Reads tree information into the directory cache
65 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
66 Modifies the index or directory cache
68 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
69 Computes the object ID from a file.
71 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
72 Creates a tree from the current cache
74 link:git-pack-objects.html[git-pack-objects]::
75 Creates a packed archive of objects.
77 link:git-unpack-objects.html[git-unpack-objects]::
78 Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
80 link:git-prune-packed.html[git-prune-packed]::
81 Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
83 link:git-apply.html[git-apply]::
84 Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
85 applies it to the working tree.
88 Interrogation commands
89 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
90 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
91 Provide content or type information for repository objects
93 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
94 Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
96 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
97 Compares files in the working tree and the cache
99 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
100 Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
102 link:git-diff-stages.html[git-diff-stages]::
103 Compares two "merge stages" in the index file.
105 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
106 Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
108 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
109 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
111 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
112 Information about files in the cache/working directory
114 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
115 Displays a tree object in human readable form
117 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
118 Runs a merge for files needing merging
120 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
121 Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
123 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
124 Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
126 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
127 Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
129 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
130 Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
132 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
133 Displays a git logical variable
135 link:git-show-index.html[git-show-index]::
136 Displays contents of a pack idx file.
138 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
139 Validates packed GIT archive files
141 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
142 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
145 Synching repositories
146 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
148 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
149 Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
151 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
152 Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
153 for ssh and local transport)
155 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
156 Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
158 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
159 Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
161 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
162 Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
164 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
165 Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
167 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
168 Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
170 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
171 Clones from a remote repository.
173 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
174 Updates from a remote repository.
176 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
177 Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
179 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
180 Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
181 what are asked for.
183 link:git-update-server-info.html[git-update-server-info]::
184 Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
185 clients discover references and packs on it.
188 Porcelain-ish Commands
189 ----------------------
190 link:git-whatchanged.html[git-whatchanged]::
191 Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
193 link:git-log-script.html[git-log-script]::
194 Shows commit logs.
196 link:git-shortlog.html[git-shortlog]::
197 Summarizes 'git log' output.
199 link:git-status-script.html[git-status-script]::
200 Shows the working tree status.
202 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
203 Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
205 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
206 Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
208 link:git-commit-script.html[git-commit-script]::
209 Record changes to the repository.
211 link:git-show-branches-script.html[git-show-branches-script]::
212 Show branches and their commits.
214 link:git-repack-script.html[git-repack-script]::
215 Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
217 link:git-rename-script.html[git-rename]::
218 Rename files and directories.
220 link:git-ls-remote-script.html[git-ls-remote-script]::
221 Shows references in a remote or local repository.
224 Ancillary Commands
225 ------------------
226 Manipulators:
228 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
229 Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
231 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
232 Converts old-style GIT repository
234 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
235 The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
237 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
238 Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
240 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
241 Script used to merge two trees
243 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
244 An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
246 link:git-cvsimport-script.html[git-cvsimport-script]::
247 Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
250 Interrogators:
252 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
253 Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
255 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
256 Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
258 link:git-send-email-script.html[git-send-email]::
259 Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
262 Identifier Terminology
263 ----------------------
264 <object>::
265 Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
267 <blob>::
268 Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
270 <tree>::
271 Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
273 <commit>::
274 Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
276 <tree-ish>::
277 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier. A
278 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
279 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
280 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
282 <type>::
283 Indicates that an object type is required.
284 Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
286 <file>::
287 Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
288 the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
290 Symbolic Identifiers
291 --------------------
292 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
293 symbolic notation:
295 HEAD::
296 indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
297 `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
298 <tag>::
299 a valid tag 'name'+
300 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
301 <head>::
302 a valid head 'name'+
303 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
304 <snap>::
305 a valid snapshot 'name'+
306 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
309 File/Directory Structure
310 ------------------------
311 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
313 .git/ The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
314 objects/ The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
315 ??/ 'First 2 chars of object' directories.
316 pack/ Packed archives.
318 refs/ Directories containing symbolic names for objects
319 (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
320 heads/ Commits which are heads of various sorts
321 tags/ Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
322 */ Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
323 files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
324 HEAD Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
326 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
327 GIT_DIR.
329 Terminology
330 -----------
331 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
333 object database, .git directory
334 directory cache, index
335 id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
336 type, tag
339 Environment Variables
340 ---------------------
341 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
343 The git Repository
344 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
345 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
346 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
347 git so take care if using Cogito etc
349 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
350 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
351 cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
352 `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
354 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
355 If the object storage directory is specified via this
356 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
357 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
358 directory is used.
360 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
361 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
362 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
363 specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
364 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
365 written to these directories.
367 'GIT_DIR'::
368 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
369 a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
370 repository.
372 git Commits
373 ~~~~~~~~~~~
374 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
375 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
376 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
377 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
378 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
379 see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
381 git Diffs
382 ~~~~~~~~~
383 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
384 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
385 see the "generating patches" section in :
386 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
387 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
388 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
390 Discussion
391 ----------
392 include::../README[]
394 Author
395 ------
396 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
398 Documentation
399 --------------
400 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
402 GIT
403 ---
404 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite